Thoughts about wage disparity

[crapstang]

Uh, no. First, you have to have a quality mower in order to compete with the larger operations. No one is going to pay $50 an hour for a lopsided lawn. Then you have to have a vehicle to haul that mower around. Money for gas and upkeep on the vehicle and the mower. Money for advertising your services. Money for insurance because people are more than happy to sue you for anything. Oh and then you need a DBA or a .llc in order to work. Then you need a large enough customer base to fill your week.

At the end of the week, you pocket Maybe $20 an hour and don't have enough business for a 40 hour week.

I guess I'm the living truth that it's not hard to do this. When I was 12 years old my father upgraded lawnmowers when his old one completely seized the engine after ~15 years of abuse. I asked around, found a cheap replacement engine, rigged it in, sharpened the blades with a die grinder, and literally drove it into the local lake community and found work. I'd drive up, knock on the door, tell them I'd mow their lawn for ~50 bucks, or $10 less than what they are paying currently. I was busy all spring and summer. I was 12 years old at the time. It's truly not that hard. Plus, the challenge of it is fun.

Oh, and I almost never spent over 45min on one lawn, and the job was always done properly.

[Forever_frost]

I had a 20 inch push mower that I bought for 20 bucks from a flea market and pushed it around West TAwakoni mowing lawns. You don't need a truck, don't need an expensive mower, don't need advertising. Walk around the block or blocks, knock on the door and ask those who answer if they need their lawn mowed.

[crapstang]

I had a 20 inch push mower that I bought for 20 bucks from a flea market and pushed it around West TAwakoni mowing lawns. You don't need a truck, don't need an expensive mower, don't need advertising. Walk around the block or blocks, knock on the door and ask those who answer if they need their lawn mowed.

Eggs-actly. It really doesn't take too much effort or ingenuity, but it does, however, require you to get off of your bum-ass and TRY.

[JC316]

I guess I'm the living truth that it's not hard to do this. When I was 12 years old my father upgraded lawnmowers when his old one completely seized the engine after ~15 years of abuse. I asked around, found a cheap replacement engine, rigged it in, sharpened the blades with a die grinder, and literally drove it into the local lake community and found work. I'd drive up, knock on the door, tell them I'd mow their lawn for ~50 bucks, or $10 less than what they are paying currently. I was busy all spring and summer. I was 12 years old at the time. It's truly not that hard. Plus, the challenge of it is fun.

Oh, and I almost never spent over 45min on one lawn, and the job was always done properly.

This is completely different than what you were talking about earlier. Being 12, your parents would have taken the liability had you fucked something up, you didn't have to explain where the money came from to the government. Spring and summer are great when you're trying to get spare cash as a kid, but as an adult, what do you do during fall and winter?

I get the idea of what you're saying, but it's not going to work out like you think it is. If you could make 96K a year with a free mower, everyone would do it.

I had a 20 inch push mower that I bought for 20 bucks from a flea market and pushed it around West TAwakoni mowing lawns. You don't need a truck, don't need an expensive mower, don't need advertising. Walk around the block or blocks, knock on the door and ask those who answer if they need their lawn mowed.

In that situation, no, you wouldn't need a truck, but where I am, you would definitely need transportation, otherwise you would be walking a hell of a long way. I guess I shouldn't say an expensive mower, but at least a well maintained one.

[YALE]

This is completely different than what you were talking about earlier. Being 12, your parents would have taken the liability had you fucked something up, you didn't have to explain where the money came from to the government. Spring and summer are great when you're trying to get spare cash as a kid, but as an adult, what do you do during fall and winter?

I get the idea of what you're saying, but it's not going to work out like you think it is. If you could make 96K a year with a free mower, everyone would do it.

In that situation, no, you wouldn't need a truck, but where I am, you would definitely need transportation, otherwise you would be walking a hell of a long way. I guess I shouldn't say an expensive mower, but at least a well maintained one.

It kind of sounds like he isn't waiting around to find out.

[quikag]

Wow, JC. You sound like the guy that sits around and talks yourself out of doing anything that has a modicum of risk. My brother and I started a lawn business in high school and we ran it all the way through college. 70 or so lawns a week starting with a family mower and put the proceeds eventually into top of the line commercial equipment, trailer, and truck. We made damn good money, so much so that when my brother graduated with a masters in accounting, he kept mowing, built up to three crews, and over 150 lawns/wk, plus landscaping, fence, irrigation. He stopped doing the manual labor and just took care of problems and met with customers and potential customers. When he didn't have to do that, he'd sit at home and play Tiger Woods golf with a phone next to him if the guys mowing had any problems.

He had PLENTY of cash to last the fall/winter and he'd also do leaves and Christmas lights for a little off-season extra cash. Anyway, where there is a will, there's a way.

Btw, he's flying an F-16 now for the Air National guard and sold his lawn business many years ago to a retiring Lockheed Martin guy who wanted a retirement business. My brother got $75k for it. Know how he listed the business for sale? On EBay. Haha, seriously.

Anyway, get off your ass and quit convincing yourself why you can't do something.

[Roscoe]

Typical ...... let those who work support those that don't....

[jayjohnson600]

... Anyway, where there is a will, there's a way.
...

There are less and less "Ways" than there used to be and there is more predation focusing in on what remains of it, and that's everywhere you look. That's not just for the populace at large, that's even for state gov't, and Federal gov't.

and that is having a chilling effect on people's "Wills". I see it every time I walk into a store. I see it in the workers attitudes, I snoop it overhearing the conversations of the employees. I hear it in the voice of the cashiers when I pay for my purchases.
Some do their best to put a smile on it, but it's still obvious to the observant.
It's not everybody, but a large portion of folks that I observe.

It seems as though there is more advancement through attrition, than recognition of good qualities.

Finding an "employee-owner" is a true rarity, and that is at broad swaths of the income range(disparity). Most of those "wills" are beaten out of people by the system, because it's broken currently and everything else in the world is eating its lunch.

Some parts of the system were built on vapor, cliche, and advertising, yet it all worked for quite a while. I hope that when things are fixed or patched, it will be on more of a solid foundation.

[jayjohnson600]

and if the subject remains on the lawn care business, that too is a tough business to run.

Labor can always be sourced to undercut a living wage, and that's not hard to get in Texas.

and when a living wage cannot be earned, the fall-back is gov't subsidies and entitlements, which the tax payer is held responsible for.

[talisman]

It seems as though there is more advancement through attrition, than recognition of good qualities.

Nice way of describing retail that I'd never thought of. Spot on.

[hotrod66stang]

Nice way of describing retail that I'd never thought of. Spot on.

Absolutely. Retail, restaurant management ("oh hey, Becky's been here 5 years as a waitress, let's make her a manager"), and most other "unskilled labor" jobs.

[BP]

Nice way of describing retail that I'd never thought of. Spot on.

It's not just retail. I've seen senior management die and the company end up being restructured instead of promoting from within.

Then again with my company we are constantly buying other companies and we usually keep most of the existing management on staff in some capacity. It makes it really hard to advance from the ground level when we are demoting people who used to be CEOs and VPs at other companies into plant managers.

[Forever_frost]

and if the subject remains on the lawn care business, that too is a tough business to run.

Labor can always be sourced to undercut a living wage, and that's not hard to get in Texas.

and when a living wage cannot be earned, the fall-back is gov't subsidies and entitlements, which the tax payer is held responsible for.

So, instead of advancing a skill set, people should be handed a living wage. What amount would that be?

[crapstang]

This is completely different than what you were talking about earlier. Being 12, your parents would have taken the liability had you fucked something up, you didn't have to explain where the money came from to the government. Spring and summer are great when you're trying to get spare cash as a kid, but as an adult, what do you do during fall and winter?

You can figure it out as you go. There is no "how-to" guide for life. All I am saying is that it's not that hard to support yourself if you keep a good mindset and manage your finances properly. If you look at all of the what-ifs of a certain endeavor, then you can easily scare yourself out of it. Being paid in cash or small checks, such as small operation will probably just be filed as a 1099. That's the last of your problems. From that money, you can get food, shelter, and time to invest in yourself.

[quikag]

There are less and less "Ways" than there used to be and there is more predation focusing in on what remains of it, and that's everywhere you look. That's not just for the populace at large, that's even for state gov't, and Federal gov't.

and that is having a chilling effect on people's "Wills". I see it every time I walk into a store. I see it in the workers attitudes, I snoop it overhearing the conversations of the employees. I hear it in the voice of the cashiers when I pay for my purchases.
Some do their best to put a smile on it, but it's still obvious to the observant.
It's not everybody, but a large portion of folks that I observe.

It seems as though there is more advancement through attrition, than recognition of good qualities.

Finding an "employee-owner" is a true rarity, and that is at broad swaths of the income range(disparity). Most of those "wills" are beaten out of people by the system, because it's broken currently and everything else in the world is eating its lunch.

Some parts of the system were built on vapor, cliche, and advertising, yet it all worked for quite a while. I hope that when things are fixed or patched, it will be on more of a solid foundation.

When other people are lazy and just give up, then I see that as more opportunity. Hustle and work hard day in and day out, work smart too, and good things can happen.

Then again, maybe my brother and I just got lucky. Getting up at 5am in the summer to mow and driving home from college on the weekends during the growing season and then going back to school to study for Monday morning didn't have anything to do with it.